Nazwa
illegal migration

The European Union–Turkey Statement on Refugees: a Deal on the Verge of Collapse?

The European Union–Turkey Statement on Refugees: a Deal on the Verge of Collapse?

Authors

Pages

99-122

Abstract

The Syrian War has brought about one of the greatest refugee crises of our time. Turkey represents a country that many refugees pass through in order to reach Europe, where supposedly they can find a better life. In order to be able to cope with the thousands of refugees that cross the Turkish border, the EU and Turkey have agreed on the “EU–Turkey Statement on Refugees” that was implemented in order to lower the number of irregular migrants coming from the Middle Orient, as well as to reduce migrant deaths, smuggling and human rights violations. The purpose of the article is to shed light on the main reasons why Turkey lacks commitment to the Statement. The article is composed of four parts. The first section elaborates on the deal itself, the conditions of the statement and the action points that were established. The following part outlines the opinions of the countries involved and the perspectives of the refugees on the EU–Turkey Statement. The third section contains a quantitative analysis in order to evaluate the efficiency of the deal, while the last section focuses on the influences of the Turkish coup d’état on the deal and the reasons for Turkey’s lack of commitment to the Statement. The findings show that for the deal to be functional both parties have to prove commitment; in the case of Turkey, financial reasons, visa-free travel and reopening EU accession talks seem to be the key factors necessary for proper commitment.